Christmas Dinner & Festive Foods
There are a lot of
foods and drinks consumed at Christmas time that are not usually seen
for the rest of the year.
Mulled wine is
popular, which is red wine mixed with a variety of spices and served
warm. Very good for taking the chill off once you come in from the
cold. The recipes vary greatly and while Cook will not tell me exactly
what she uses, I can taste that there is cinnamon, orange and a touch
of cloves in our mulled wine.
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| Mince pies being prepared |
Minced pies are
popular also. At one time they were filled with minced beef but it
has become popular in recent years to fill them with a sweet fruit
mixture instead.
Sugar plums are also
served at Christmas time which are exactly as they sound, plums
coated in sugar crystals.They can also be hung from the tree using ribbon and when the candles are lit, the sugar crystals will glisten in the candle light.
 |
| Sugar Plums. |
The main Christmas meal is
usually eaten at lunch time, after we have attended church. The meat
is usually beef or goose. Although some people are beginning to serve
turkey, we usually opt for beef. Accompanying the meat are potatoes
roasted in goose fat, roast parsnips and carrots, red cabbage and other similar
delights
 |
| Christmas fruit pudding |
For dessert we have
the traditional Christmas fruit pudding served with brandy cream.
Unlike many families
we do not usually have a starter or cheese board at this meal simply
because we usually find two courses to be elegant sufficiency.
In the afternoon we
usually play parlour games or have a reading and then in the evening
we have a cold dinner consisting of cheese, pate and cold meats
served with bread. For those who still
have room dessert is biscuits, fruit and plum pie and the whole meal is accompanied by a glass or two of cooks excellent mulled wine to
wash it all down with.
After this, well fed
and content many are ready to sleep despite the early hour so we have
taken to serving coffee and cream after the desert. The taste of coffee takes a little
getting used to but it does perk the spirits up.
Still, we are none of
us quite so lively so we usually opt for less demanding
entertainment. Fanny and Margaret will often grace us with a tune or
two on the piano and Bessy and Alex will then sing some of our
favourite carols. Alex is not yet old enough to carry a tune well but
his enjoyment and eager face, not to mention Bessy's fine singing
voice, more than make up for that.
Our staff celebrate
their Christmas on boxing day so they leave us a range of cold foods
to consume that day. Margaret insists that they are as much a family as we are
and that none of them should work so that they can celebrate
together, however we have not yet been able to stop Dixon from seeing
to our breakfast and getting the children up and ready. So that we
are not a burden on their day off, and to stop Dixon from fussing
over us, we often choose to visit mother and Mr Whitaker, the
Maitlands or the Townsends in the afternoon and evening, driving
ourselves into town in Margaret's little gig.
***
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